New Adventure #12: Flavor Tripping

Have you heard of Miracle Berries? I thought they were a myth when I first heard of them. They're a funny little fruit that, when eaten, changes your perceptions of flavors such that sour foods taste sweet. 

You can get them in convenient tablet form here. (And they're perfectly legal and safe, nothing shady!)

I got to try them when some friends had a "flavor tripping" party. You just roll one tablet around on your tongue until it dissolves and then taste away! It was great fun trying different foods after my sense of taste was altered. Lemons were my favorite. The sourness wasn't completely gone, but they tasted like the most delicious sweet lemonade. 

Be aware that only your taste-buds are affected, not your tummy. If you drink a bottle of lemon juice it will taste delicious, but the miracle berries won't protect you from the stomach ache after.

New Adventure #11: Casino Trip

I always imagined casinos to be glittering, luxurious, otherworldly places. I pictured sparkling fountains, exquisitely dressed dealers, and sequined lounge singers. Well perhaps some casinos are like that, but Delaware Park casino and slots parlor is much more of this world.

Before my trip, the extent of my gambling experience was playing poker with my siblings, using our Halloween candy for stakes. Given my luck on this trip, I should probably stick with that in the future. I didn't try any table games, but my luck with the slots wasn't stellar.

I learned that different machines have different costs and stakes. Some are $1 a spin, or $5 or $20 or $0.25 or $0.05 or even $0.01. I decided I like the nickle machines best. You can play the penny machines forever without using up all your money, but you also never seem to make any, even if you get lucky a lot. The dollars and quarters are too prone to wild swings up and down, but with the nickles you can win enough to feel substantial without losing it all too fast.

I started off with a $20 bill and resolved not to spend more than that. As probably won't surprise the wise, I promptly lost it all and broke my pledge by starting another $20 bill. I had a run of luck and managed to win back my losses. I called that good enough and cashed out my $40.

All in all, I don't think this is a pastime for me. Pulling the lever on the machine was sort of fun and felt like being in a movie, and some of the graphics were amusing, but the sheer randomness of the pursuit started to get to me pretty quickly. I couldn't discern that there was any skill involved, except noticing which machines had slightly better advertised odds than others. People watching was more interesting. A few people were very excited, and it was fun to watch them cheer their wins, mourn their losses, and encourage their machines, but most people seemed a lot like robots - staring blankly at their screens and mechanically pressing buttons.

I'll certainly try another casino if I ever find myself in Las Vegas, but otherwise I think this experience was quiet sufficient.

My Little Garden

The first 60 degree day of the year always puts me in a fever of excitement for being outdoors: picnicking, swimming, playing, and gardening.

I love a garden. As a child we had a wonderful big one with tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots, zucchini, eggplants, parsley, strawberries, peppers, and probably more. I started one last year, but ended up letting it die of thirst. I expect this was mostly a case of out of sight, out of mind. This year I put my garden right next to my door so I can't fail to feel guilty if I neglect it. Here it is:

Okay, it's a modest little garden, but it's mine and I love it. There are snap peas in back, strawberries in front, and two kinds of tomatoes on the right. If I don't manage to kill them, I'll write later about how they get on :)

Vote Today!

How lucky are we that we live in a country where each of us has a voice in shaping our government by voting?  

Today is the special U.S. Senate election primary in Massachusetts to chose the Republican and Democratic candidates that will compete for John Kerry's vacated Senate seat next month. Please get out and vote today - the polls are open until 8pm. Remember that Unenrolled (i.e. "independent") voters can vote in either primary.

Your voting location is probably the same as it was in November, but check here:

I'm registered Unenrolled, and I'll be voting for Representative Ed Markey in the Democratic primary. I'm voting for Markey because he's focused on the future: on education, science and technology, climate change, and clean energy. It's critical that the present gridlock in Washington doesn't prevent us from planning for the future, and I believe Markey can help shift the focus from today's bickering to tomorrow's challenges and opportunities.

The candidates are:  

Democratic Primary: 

Stephen Lynch

Ed Markey

Republican Primary: 

Gabriel Gomez

Mike Sullivan 

Dan Winslow

New Adventure #10: Online Course

About a year after I graduated college, I started to feel the organized education itch. I didn't miss college life (much), but I missed formalized learning. I wish I had the self discipline to compel myself to study all the topics I'm interested in on my own time without outside encouragement, but I find that I don't. I really need guidance and deadlines to make more than fitful progress. I'm not ready to embark on the obligation or expense of grad school, so I was delighted to discovered that I can take courses from prestigious universities free online.

 

One excellent website for this is Coursera. It offers select courses from dozens of universities around the world, modified for a massive online student enrollment - though not for credit. Professors record lectures, set homework, assign quizzes, and provide discussion forums. Some of the more invested arrange Google+ hangouts and spend lots of time responding to student questions on the forums.

 

Each class is run a little differently depending on the subject matter, University, and professor. Some courses are just lectures and quizes. Others have programming assignments, peer-reviewed writing assignments, or exams, or requirements to engage in the discussion forums. They range from 1-2 hours of work per week to many many more.

 

A very select few courses can now be taken for actual University credit. Many more provide a signed certificate of completion for students who finish the course with a certain level achievement. Others are taken just for the joy of learning.

 

I recently completed "Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" offered by the University of Edinburgh via Coursera. It was very low workload, just 1-2 hours of lectures and 2 quizzes per week for 5 weeks, but very rewarding. For such a small investment, I feel that I learned a lot about the definition of life, theories on possible origins, extremes of conducive environments, the "habitability" of other planetary bodies, and the measures being used to search for life elsewhere in the universe. I had no idea, for example, that there is a chance of finding past or present life in our own solar system on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, or Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Fascinating! I'm looking forward to taking more courses in the future.

 

Here are a few starting soon that look really good:

 

An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (starting April 15th)

 

Greek and Roman Mythology (starting April 22nd)

 

Rationing and Allocating Scarce Medical Resources (starting May 20th)

New Adventure #9: Canvassing

So, I tried political canvassing! Let me just say that this was WAY outside my comfort zone. Knocking on strangers' doors and asking them questions is not something I would ever have pictured myself doing. As recently as the November elections, I refused a friend's invitation to join the get-out-the-vote effort for Elizabeth Warren because it just sounded so uncomfortable. However, I've been wanting to get more involved in my community and I feel strongly about Ed Markey's Senate campaign, so I pushed myself to try it.

 

 

The experience was...interesting. The jury is still out on how I feel about it, though I'm certainly glad I tried it.

Backing up, political canvassing involves making direct contact with potential voters, usually by going door-to-door. The purpose is generally to determine who is likely to vote for your candidate, in order to prepare for a get-out-the-vote effort to encourage them to actually get to the polls on election day. Volunteer recruiting is often also a goal.

 

I had feared that I would be expected to try to convince people to vote for Markey by explaining his views and record, but the focus was much more on raising awareness that an election is coming and identifying people's present inclinations. Thank goodness!

 

I met up with the local organizer for my town and a couple other volunteers. They set me up with a stack of pamphlets and a handy smartphone app that provided me with a list of likely voters' names and addresses in a localized area. Apparently, which primary you voted in and the address you're registered at are public information - didn't know that.

 

I drove to the area and spent about 2 hours canvassing. In that time I knocked on about 40 doors. Most people aren't home on Saturday mornings, it turns out, and only about 15 of those knocks were answered. I spoke to a couple enthusiastic Markey supporters, one firm Lynch supporter, and a number of folks who either hadn't been aware of the election or hadn't decided who to vote for. I left pamphlets with everyone I spoke to, as tucked more into the doors of the people who weren't home. I also recorded in the app who I'd made contact with, whether they were inclined to vote for or against Markey, and whether they were interested in volunteering.

 

The first hour or so was more fun than I had expected. Talking to the folks who were enthusiastic about Markey was affirming, and informing people who weren't aware that there is an election coming up was rewarding. I started to flag after an hour or so though. I suspect it would be a lot more sustainable if I had a partner to work with. If anyone's interested in canvassing with me, let me know!

New Adventure #8: Manicure Pedicure

So, this is one of the items on my "new adventure" list that makes me feel really silly, but I'm gonna write about it anyway. The fact that it was WAY more fun than I expected has convinced me.

New Adventure #8 was...a manicure/pedicure. Honestly, it was incredibly relaxing and fun. I've never had either before. I paint my toes and my mom used to paint my nails every once in awhile pre-high school, but I've never had it professionally done. Never really considered it. But between my new adventure year and a convenient Groupon, it seemed worth a try.

I went to Robert's Salon and Spa in Belmont. It was after work, and I was one of the last few customers in the place. I'd read reviews that the atmosphere was too rushed, but my experience was the reverse. I was welcomed and offered a cup of (admittedly pretty bad) coffee, allowed to choose a polish color, and seated for a few minutes before Lauren came over to get me. I soaked my feet in a whirlpool tub for a few minutes while she set up. She removed my poor attempt at toe nail polish, trimmed and shaped my toenails, scrubbed my feet with a lovely gritty scrub, massaged my feet and calves a little bit with oil/moisturizer, buffed my nails, applied a base coat, 2 layers of polish and a top coat.  That probably took 45 minutes and was incredibly pleasant and relaxing. Lauren and I chatted, but I didn't feel interrogated or chattered at at like I sometimes do when I get my hair cut, etc.

She had me put on these silly disposable flip-flops and lead me over to a table to let my toes dry and paint my fingernails. There was less ritual here, just cleaning, trimming and shaping my nails, and again a base coat, 2 polish, and a top coat. She used a really awesome gel-style polish that hardened under a UV light. It left the nails perfectly smooth and shiny, and an awesome sparkly purple color! I can't stop staring at them; I get distracted every time I notice my fingers.

The whole thing took about an hour and fifteen minutes, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I'm so glad I didn't decide it was too trivial for my adventure project. I was skeptical, but it was a wonderful experience.